boatman
Americannoun
-
a person skilled in the use of small craft.
-
a person who sells, rents, or works on boats.
noun
-
a man who works on, hires out, repairs, or operates a boat or boats
-
short for water boatman
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of boatman
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Bumps is closer to cheese-rolling than rowing, the Peterhouse boatman explained in a pep talk to the squad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Oo Oo had to retire from his job as a boatman when he suffered a stroke which left him partially paralysed.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2025
"I'm an old boatman, I have experienced another four floods in the village. This was the worst," he told media.
From Reuters ● Sep. 9, 2023
Levin Dukes, a boatman, built the house and was its first occupant.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2023
“Everyone who is getting off needs to GET OFF!” the boatman booms as people begin boarding for the trip back to Alcatraz.
From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko
Certainly the good Samaritans must have known the two boatmen were not going to be put on trial, owing to lack of evidence.
From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2025
The famous Dal Lake, as seen in the picture above, and other water bodies in Kashmir have partially frozen, making it hard for boatmen to ferry passengers and tourists.
From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2024
Just before the accident, onlookers from the river bank were shouting at the boatmen to navigate carefully.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2022
What takes me by surprise is the warmth of the boatmen, Italian American, old, kind, used to Hindu families carrying out the ritual of scattering ashes on water.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2022
He went in a rowboat with a couple of young fishermen of Low Torning, who wanted the honor of being his boatmen.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
